Three Cases of Murder

Last updated

Three Cases of Murder
Three Cases of Murder poster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by David Eady
George More O'Ferrall
Wendy Toye
Orson Welles (uncredited)
Written by Sidney Carroll
Ian Dalrymple
Donald B. Wilson
Produced by Ian Dalrymple
Alexander Paal
Starring Alan Badel
Orson Welles
John Gregson
André Morell
Cinematography Georges Périnal
Edited byGerald Turney-Smith
Music by Doreen Carwithen
Production
company
Wessex Film Productions
Distributed by London Films
Release dates
  • 15 March 1955 (1955-03-15)(US)
  • May 1955 (1955-05)(UK)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£250,000 [1]

Three Cases of Murder is a 1955 British horror omnibus film comprising three stories: "In The Picture," "You Killed Elizabeth," and "Lord Mountdrago." Eamonn Andrews introduces each. Alan Badel appears in all three. [2]

Contents

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Uncredited/cameo cast

Production

The first and third stories deal with the supernatural. In the first, "In the Picture", a museum worker enters one of the pictures in a gallery, enticed by a mysterious man who turns out to be the picture's painter. In the second, "You Killed Elizabeth", a man falls in love with a woman, only to lose her to his friend; she dies, but which one killed her? In the third, "Lord Mountdrago", a dramatization of a short story by W. Somerset Maugham from his collection The Mixture as Before , a politician seeks revenge on the political opponent who humiliated him, by entering his dreams.

Wendy Toye directed "In the Picture"; David Eady, "You Killed Elizabeth"; and George More O'Ferrall, "Lord Mountdrago." [3]

Orson Welles received top billing, but he appears only in "Lord Mountdrago". According to Patrick Macnee, who had a supporting role, Welles began making suggestions to director George More O'Ferrall throughout the first day of filming, and by the third day he had taken over the direction of the entire segment. [4]

Reception

The presence of Orson Welles in the cast meant the film was released in the US before the UK. [2] The film was turned down for exhibition in the UK by both the Rank and Associated British chains. [1] They claimed that the film was mediocre and that Welles was not a big enough box office draw to compensate for this. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Orson Welles film rejected". The Sun . No. 13, 890. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1954. p. 55 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 1 October 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  2. 1 2 John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70 Hemlock Books 2013 p 24-27
  3. ↑ The Times, "Three Cases Of Murder" Film Short Stories 16 May 1955
  4. ↑ Patrick Macnee, Blind in One Ear (London, 1988)
  5. ↑ ""Wonder Boy" Welles". The Newcastle Sun . No. 11, 277. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1954. p. 27. Retrieved 1 October 2017– via National Library of Australia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.